avast Sandbox Test

[GloobyGoob]

http://www.screencast.com/t/OTQxN2Mx

I was bored so I did a simple test using the avast! Sandbox. It works really well  

[Asyn]

I was bored so I did a simple test using the avast! Sandbox. It works really well  

Thanks for the feedback..!
asyn

[Dch48]

That's pretty impressive

[Rednose]

Thnx for testing

If you have any thoughts/issues about the Avast! sandbox just contact its developer Petr Kurtin :

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?action=profile;u=382

Greetz, Red.

[GloobyGoob]

No problem guys.

[ALIV]

Good video review.
I wonder if the result would have been the same if the OS were 64-bit.

[GloobyGoob]

It should; On the avast website it says that the sandbox is unique by running on both 32 and 64 bit systems.

http://www.avast.com/index#tab3 Click the link that says avast! Sandbox.

[ALIV]

Hm, interesting, thanks.

[JerryM]

I am hesitant to try the sandbox. I am not sure how to use it. Does it affect downloads in that they go into the sandbox instead of your download files? Thanks.
Jerry

[bri]

if they go into the sandbox than ya  it affects them.theres an option for downloads,you can have them go to the real sytem or sandbox them.

[JerryM]

Thanks.
Jerry

[Dch48]

How exactly does the sandbox behave? Does it automatically put all unknown things in there? If it does,  I would be hesitant about using it. The one that Comodo recently built into their suite is terrible, especially for gamers. It keeps sandboxing things even after you have told it not to and with no alert that it is doing so. I would hope that the Avast! one is better. The test shown here only shows how effective it is at sandboxing a browser and it's impressive in that regard. How does it work otherwise is what I want to know.

[pk]

How exactly does the sandbox behave? Does it automatically put all unknown things in there?

Yes, all application activities are virtualized (see some technical background here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=57347.msg483820#msg483820). There're some exceptions for web browsers which improve convenience of using them in the sandbox (like downloads may not be always virtualized, etc).

[Dch48]

How exactly does the sandbox behave? Does it automatically put all unknown things in there?

Yes, all application activities are virtualized (see some technical background here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=57347.msg483820#msg483820). There're some exceptions for web browsers which improve convenience of using them in the sandbox (like downloads may not be always virtualized, etc).

Okay, that gives me serious reservations about using it. I play World of Warcraft regularly and it has periodic updates. These updates come in the form of an updater that is specific to each patch and is named accordingly. Since the new name would make it a new unrecognized file, I'm thinking it would be sandboxed and thus be unable to make the changes to the game files that it needs to do. The game updates themselves are delivered by the downloaders through a built in bittorrent client that connects to other users to get the files.

So, there needs to be a notice given that a file is about to be sandboxed with a choice given of whether to do it or not. I was using the Comodo suite until they introduced a sandbox that was completely unusable for me. I disabled it but grew tired of HIPS so I have changed my setup to what my signature now shows. I'm not a fan of either HIPS or sandboxing at this point.

You said all activities are virtualized. I'm hoping you meant the activities of new unknown applications and not everything in the system.

[Gargamel360]

Nothing runs in my Avast! sandbox unless I tell it to.  Unless you have WOW set up to run "always in sandbox", I would think you should be fine.